I  BAKER 


THE 


SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


THEIR  DISCOVERERS,  REAL  AND 
PRETENDED. 


A  REPORT, 


HON.  JAMES  H.  BAKER, 

Read  before  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society, 
February  8,  1887. 


MINNESOTA  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS, 
VOL.  VI.      PART  I. 


SAINT  PAUL,  MINN. 

Brown,  Treacv  &  Co.,   Printers, 

1887. 


THE 


SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


THEIR  DISCOVERERS,  REAL  AND  PRETENDED. 


A  Report,  by  Hon.  James  H.  Baker,  read  before  the 
Minnesota  Historical  Society,  Feb.  8,  1887. 


In  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  the  Minnesota  Historical 
Society,  dated  Dec.  13,  1886,  your  committee  herewith 
present  a  summary  of  their  investigations  and  conclusions, 
touching  the  validity  of  any  and  all  claims  to  the  discovery 
of  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi  river,  together  with  a 
determination  of  what  waters  constitute  the  true  and  ulti- 
mate sources. 

Your  committee  have  faithfully  and  laboriously  read  all 
letters,  documents,  journals  and  books,  and  consulted  all 
maps  obtainable,*  which  shed  any  light  upon  the  questions 

*  Books,  Letters,  and  Documents  Consulted  :  Letter  of  Williatn  Morrison 
to  Hon.  Alex.  Ramsey,  Feb.  17,  185(5,  in  Minnesota  Historical  Society's  Collec- 
tions, vol.  1,  p  -117.  Schoolcraft's  narratives  of  the  expedition  to  the  source  of 
the  Mississippi,  1«20  and  1832.  Report  of  Jean  N.  Nicollet,  to  accompany  his 
map  of  the  hydrographical  basin  of  the  upper  Mississippi  river,  1845.  Charles 
Lanman's  Canoe  Voyage  up  the  Mississippi.  .Julius  Chambers'  letters  in  the  New 
York  Herald,  1H72.  O.  E.  Garrison's  report  for  the  tenth  census  of  the  U.  S. 
Rev.  J.  A.  Gilfillan's  trip  to  Itasca,  1881.  The  United  States  Surveyor  General's 
map  and  field  notes,  1«76.  Letter  fi-om  Ivison,  Blakeman,  Taylor  &  Co.  in 
"  Science,"  Dec.  24,  1886.  Owen's  "  Sword  and  Pen,"  Phila.,  18>4.  Capt.  Glazier 
and  his  lake,  by  Henry  D.  narrower,  of  N.  Y.  Ninth  annual  report  of  the 
Geological  and  Natural  History  Survey  of  Minnesota,  1880.  American  Meteoro- 
logical Journal,  1884.  Report  by  Hopewell  Clarke,  C.  E.,  of  a  survey  of  the 
affluents  of  Itasca,  etc. 

Maps  Consulted  :  Map  of  Nicollet,  attached  to  his  report,  1845.  Military 
map  of  Nebraska  and  Dakota,  by  Gen.  G.  K.  Warren,  1855.  Official  map  of 
Minnesota,  1858.  Land  office  surveys  of  1875.  Map  of  Glazier's  explora- 
tions, etc. 


MINNESOTA    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS. 


involved.  A  list  of  the  several  authorities  constituted,  is 
herewith  subjoined. 

The  definite  determination  of  a  great  geographical  and 
historic  fact,  intimately  interwoven  with  a  pre-eminent 
physical  feature  of  our  own  State,  is  strictly  within  the 
province  and  duty  of  this  Society.  The  material  facts  and 
findings  in  this  investigation  only,  can  be  presented  in  this 
paper,  together  with  such  references  to  the  evidence  on 
which  the  conclusions  are  based,  as  may  be  deemed 
material. 

One  Capt.  Willard  Glazier,  recently  assumes  to  have 
made  important  discoveries  at  the  head  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi ;  that  he  discovered  a  lake,  new  n*id  unknown  before 
his  brief  visit  to  the  Itascan  region,  in  1881  ;  and  that  this 
lake,  called  after  him  "  Glazier  Lake,"  is  the  true  and  ulti- 
mate source  of  the  great  river.  He  thereafter  proceeds  to 
exalt  himself,  and  petition  geographical  societies  and  map- 
makers,  to  honor  him  as  the  original  discoverer  of  the  true 
sources  of  the  Mississippi,  and  so  displace  Schoolcraft  and 
Nicollet  from  the  high  position  and  credit  they  had  so  long 
held  in  the  field  of  American  science  and  geography.  The 
claim  is  a  lofty  and  pretentious  one,  and  should  be  examined 
with  scrupulous  care.  To  snatch  the  hard-earned  laurels 
of  Schoolcraft  and  Nicollet,  upon  whose  work  time  has  set 
the  seal  of  more  than  a  half  a  century  of  uncontested  title, 
should  not  be  sanctioned  by  the  Minnesota  Historical 
Society,  upon  a  field  so  distinctly  its  own,  unless  the  new 
claim  rests  upon  testimony  clear,  conclusive  and  indisput- 
able. This  Society  owes  it  to  the  honored  dead,  and  to  the 
truth  of  geographical  science  in  its  own  territory,  to  make 
a  candid,  unbiased,  and  if  possible,  a  conclusive  exposition 
of  the  whole  matter. 

The  most  distant  sources  of  the  Mississippi  river  have 
their  rise  in  an  elevated  table  land  in  about  N.  latitude  47'^. 
longitude  95  °,  an  area  abounding  in  marshes,  creeks  and 
lakes.     What  one  of  these  should  be  honored  as  the  true 


THE  SOURCES   OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI.  5 

and  principal  source,  and  what  explorer  first  discovered 
and  made  known  such  primal  waters,  are  the  questions 
involved. 

Says  the  American  Encyclopedia,  (Edition  1855) — "We 
follow  Schoolcraft's  map  in  giving  the  latitude  and  longitude 
of  "  Le  Bush  Lake  "  *  (Itasca)  as  the  extreme  source  of  the 
Mississippi."  The  old  geographers,  map-makers  and  his- 
torians have  thus  followed  Schoolcraft  for  fifty  years,  in  ac- 
cepting the  Itascan  basin  as  the  authentic  source.  The 
great  discovery  of  Schoolcraft,  July  12,  1832,  was  confirm- 
ed by  Jean  N.  Nicollet,  a  distinguished  French  scholar, 
July,  1836.  Nicollet,  with  more  time  and  research,  found 
other  inconsiderable  affluents  of  Itasca,  but  holds  that  Itas- 
ca was  the  "  principal  basin  "  of  the  head  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  says  with  noble  courtesy  and  loyalty  to 
historic  truths  :  "  The  honor  of  having  first  explored  the 
sources  of  the  Mississippi,  and  introduced  a  knowledge  of 
them  into  physical  geography,  belongs  to  Mr.  Schoolcraft 
and  Lt.  James  Allen.  I  came  only  after  these  gentlemen  ; 
but  I  may  be  permitted  to  claim  some  merit  for  having 
completed  what  was  wanting  for  a  full  geographical 
knowledge  of  those  sources."  This  is  the  modest  testi- 
mony of  a  true  and  genuine  scientist.  Subsequently,  at 
least  a  dozen  other  cultivated,  scholarly  and  professional 
gentlemen,  came  after  these  savans,  and  at  various  periods, 
visited  these  headwaters,  and  by  their  concurrent  testimony, 
render  certain  the  claims  of  these  two  eminent  explorers  to 
the  honor  of  original  discovery.  And  after  them  all,  comes 
the  government  surveyors,  (1875),  and  their  work  proves 
the  almost  absolute  accuracy  of  the  noble  and  early  labors 
of  Schoolcraft  and  Nicollet. 

Thus  stands  the  general  geographic  record,  until  Capt. 
Glazier  flings  his  glove  into  the  arena  in  188 1,  and  chal- 
lenges existing  and  accepted  history.  Glazier  appears  to 
be  a  writer  of  war   reminiscences,    "  in  which    he  figures 

*  Lac  la  Bicbe. 


6  MINNESOTA   HISTORICAL  COLLBCTIONS. 

as  the  most  conspicuous  hero,"  and  from  what  is  known 
of  him  by  his  writings  "  he  has  been  fairly  denominated 
an  "  adventurer."  *  There  is  no  evidence  going  to  show 
that  he  is  possessed  of  any  quahfications  whatever,  either 
as  a  trained  scholar  or  scientist,  fitting  him  for  the  import- 
ant labor  he  had  assumed.  For  he  had  taken  it  upon 
himself  to  review  the  work  of  men  believed  to  be,  in  the 
highest  sense,  competent  and  skilled  for  geographical  ex- 
ploration. They  came  modestly  and  conscientiously  to 
their  work,  and  years  of  reflection  and  consideration  elapsed 
before  either  of  them  gave  the  results  of  their  labors  to  the 
world.  They  performed  their  work,  too,  before  a  white 
man  had  yet  settled  in  the  territory  ofMinnesota,  and  when 
danger  and  privations  were  the  inevitable  accompaniments 
of  such  early  undertakings. 

But  Glazier  appears  upon  the  scene  with  dramatic  bom- 
bast, and  riding  across  the  continent  on  horseback,  in  1876, 
and  musing  upon  "  the  uncertainty  that  existed  as  to  its 
true  source,"  resolves  to  settle  the  problem.  At  that  very 
moment  when  his  steed  was  slaking  its  thirst  in  the 
"  Father  of  Waters,"  the  government  surveyors  were  plat- 
ting the  official  maps,  which  were  the  last  links  wanting  to 
corroborate  the  validity  of  the  work  of  Schoolcraft  and 
Nicollet.  In  May  1881,  Glazier  organizes  a  pleasure  excur- 
sion at  St.  Paul,  and  with  his  party  starts  on  the  cars 
"  for  exploration  in  the  wilds  of  Minnesota."  He  travels 
155  miles  by  railroad  to  the  city  of  Brainerd  in  one  night, 
and  doubtless  in  a  sleeping  car.  All  this  through  a  region 
over  which  Nicollet  had  toiled  weeks  and  months  with  all 
the  privations  incident  to  an  untrodden  wilderness.  Thence 
he  goes  by  a  well  established  road  to  Leech  Lake,  and  is 
the  identical  old  government  wagon  road  over  which  all 
the  supplies  were  hauled  for  the  North  Pacific  railroad. 
From  this  road,  another  leaves  it  at  Fish   Hook  Lake  and 

*  See  "  Sword  and  Pen ; "  or,  ventures  and  adventures  of  Willard  Glazier,  &c., 
by  John  Algernon  Owens,"  Phila.,  1881. 


THE   SOURCES   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.  7 

runs  direct  to  the  Southeast  arm  of  Lake  Itasca.  From  this 
E..  S.  Teller  cut  a  road  through  Town  143,  R.  36  W.  into 
the  S.  E.  corner  of  Section  26,  and  terminates  just  in  sight 
of  Elk  Lake.  Over  this  road  the  U.  S.  Surveyor,  Hall, 
took  his  supplies  with  a  team,  in  1875,  when  he  went  to 
survey  those  towns. 

The  whole  journey  is  not  rendered  perplexing  by  a 
single  element  of  doubt.  The  pursuing  of  these  routes 
along  established  roads  and  portages,  with  our  Indians 
"  as  guides,"  if  you  please,  and  denominating  it  an  "  explora- 
tion," is  so  ludicrous  to  one  familiar  with  the  situation,  as 
is  the  writer,  that  the  whole  thing  is  so  supremely  ridicu- 
lous, that,  were  it  not  for  the  seriousness  of  the  situation, 
we  would  dismiss  the  matter  as  a  joke,  and  Willard  Glazier 
as  merry  fellow  on  a  jolly  outing. 

Arriving  at  the  Itascan  waters,  he  goes  straight  to 
"  Schoolcraft's  Island  "  in  the  bosom  of  Lake  Itasca,  and 
thence,  without  impediment  or  doubt,  direct  to  a  "  new  and 
unknown  lake,"  and  at  once  discovers  the  original,  genu- 
ine, ultimate  sources  of  the  great  river  !  The  directness 
and  celerity  of  that  sort  of  discovery  and  exploration,  was 
never  before  recorded  in  serious  history.  He  at  once 
begins  his  work  of  distorting  geography  and  confusing 
learned  Societies.  From  "Schoolcraft's  Island,  Lake  Itasca, 
July  22d,  1 88 1 ,"  he  heralded  to  "  Geographical  Societies"  and 
to  the  world,  his  pretensions  and  achievements.  He  subse- 
quently published  an  elaborate  map  and  sent  it  to  the 
President  of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  and  pub- 
lished a  minute  account  of  the  "  Recent  Discovery  of  the 
true  source  of  the  Mississippi  River,"  illustrated  with  maps 
and  engravings,  in  the"  American  Meteorological  Journal." 
Also  in  a  volume  entitled  the  "  Sword  and  Pen,"  there  is 
reproduced  the  story  of  his  discovery.  He  also  sent  a 
map,  fortified  with  his  own  record  of  his  alleged  noble 
deed,  to  the  "  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  England."  He 
has  also  industriously  solicited  the  mention  of  his  fame  and 


MINNESOTA    HISTORICAL  COLLEXTTIONS. 


liis  lake  into  geographical  text  books  and  atlases  over  the 
country.  He  has  left  nothing  undone  to  supplant  School- 
craft and  demolish  Nicollet.  That  such  Societies  should 
have  received,  unquestioned,  his  brazen  statements,  and 
been  duped  by  him,  is  what  renders  the  preparation  of  this 
paper  a  necessity. 

The  "  lake"  which  Glazier  claims  to  have  "  discovered,  " 
is  a  small  meandered  lake,  which  lies  mainly  in  Sec.  22, 
Township  No.  143  North,  Range  36,  West  of  the  5th 
Principal  Meridian.  The  lake  lies  South  of  the  South- 
west arm  of  Lake  Itasca,  and  is  only  350  feet  distant  from 
it.  It  contains  about  250  acres  and  debouches  into  Itasca 
through  a  sinuous  stream,  11 84  feet  long,  in  a  tamarack 
swamp.  By  his  own  description  and  map,  this  is  "  Glazier 
Lake,"  so-called,  and  there  is  no  mi-staking  its  identity,  for 
there  is  no  other. 

Was  Glazier  the  original  discoverer  of  this  lake  ?  No  ; 
no  more  than  he  was  the  discoverer  of  the  sources  of  the 
Nile,  or  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  And  even  were  it 
true  that  he  did,  its  waters  are  not  the  ultimate  sources  of 
the  Mississippi.  This  identical  lake  is  found  upon  every 
map,  from  that  of  Nicollet,  1836  and  '37,  to  that  of  the 
Government  surveys,  1875. 

Now  as  to  the  testimony  that  he  did  not  first  discover  it. 
It  is  so  conclusive  as  to  be  crushing  : 

I.  In  1836-7,  Nicollet  deposited  a  map  of  the  Itascan 
region  in  the  office  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.  By  order  of 
the  Senate,  Feb.  16.  1841,  this  map  and  accompanying 
report,  was  published  in  Executive  Document,  No.  237,  2d 
Session,  26th  Congress,  in  1843,  ^^^  ^  second  edition  pub- 
lished and  enlarged,  and  can  be  found  in  any  of  the  public 
libraries  of  the  country.  Nicollet  simply  sketches  the  lake 
more  as  a  bay  or  estuary  of  Itasca.  In  that  day,  by  higher 
water,  which  is  shown  by  water-marks  to  have  existed,  the 
lake  was  certainly  identical  with  Itasca,  for  the  distance  is 
now  only  insignificant.     As   illustrative  of  this  point,   the 


THE   SOUKCES   OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI. 


Rev.  J.  E.  Gilfillan,  visiting  them  in  1881,  the  Indians 
called  this  identical  "  Elk  Lake,  "  Gabiikginnag"  which  he 
says  means,  "  water  that  juts  oft'  to  one  side,  as  a  thumb 
from  a  hand."  This  would  indicate  that  at  no  remote 
period  they  were  one  and  the  same  lake,  and  that  the 
channel  between  them  gradualh'  filled,  possibly  by  the  aid 
of  beaver  dams,  and  the)-  became  apparently  separate 
bodies  of  water,  though  only  a  "  stone's  throw  apart "  at 
this  time.  The  Indians  from  the  earliest  period,  called  the 
whole  Itasca  lake  system,  Oviosh-kos,  from  the  form  of  an 
elk,  and  this  protuberance  was  probably  a  part  of  the 
animal  configuration.  At  any  rate,  it  is  there  on  Nicollet's 
official  map,  1835,  more  nearly  correct  than  it  is  on  Glazier's 
map  of  1884. 

2.  In  1855,  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  yet  alive,  issued  in 
Philadelphia,  (Lippincott,  Grambo  &  Co.,)  his  "  Summary 
Narrative  of  an  exploratory  expedition  to  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi."  With  this  last  edition  of  his  works,  Mr.  School- 
craft presents  a  revised  map  of  all  his  discoveries,  prepared 
by  Capt.  Seth  Eastman,  U.  S.  A.,  and  it  stands  prefacing 
the  title  page,  in  which  map  this  lake  in  controversy,  is 
distinctly  defined,  together  with  "  Nicollet  Creek,"  with  its 
three  ponds,  just  precisely  as  described  by  Nicollet.  So 
that  the  French  scientist's  work  received,  before  he  died,  the 
high  sanction  and  endorsement  of  Schoolcraft  himself 

3.  A  "Military  Map"  of  the  Northwest  was  made  in 
1855-6,  by  the  authority  of  John  B.  Floyd,  then  Secretary 
of  War,  prepared  by  Lt.  G.  K.  Warren,  of  the  Typograph- 
ical Engineers,  one  of  the  foremost  geographers  of  his 
time,  from  explorations  made  by  him,  under  directions  of 
A.  A.  Humphrey,  and  the  following,  among  other  officers, 
were  consulted  in  its  preparation  and  are  so  cited  on  its 
margin:  Capt.  J.  C.  Fremont,  Capt.  John  Pope,  Gov.  I.  I, 
Stevens  and  Lt.  Janies  Allen.  The  greatest  care  was  taken 
in  its  preparation.  This  map  clearly  and  distinctly  shows 
the  lake  in  controversy,  located  just  where  the  government 
surveys  now  place  it. 


10  MINNESOTA    HISTOIUCAL  COLLECflONS. 

In  1872,  Julius  Chambers,  of  the  New  York  Herald, 
visited  the  Itascan  region.  He  wrote  a  series  of  letters  for 
the  Herald  in  June  and  July  of  that  year,  and  in  one  dated 
July  6th,  he  gives  a  full  description  of  "  Elk  Lake,"  locating 
it  where  it  really  belongs,  and  naming  it  "  Dolly  Varden," 
after  his  canoe.  He  describes  it  more  accurately  than  does 
Capt.  Glazier.  He  pronounces  it  at  that  time  as  a  distinct 
lake  from  Itasca.  This  was  seven  years  before  Glazier  was 
there.  He  made  and  published  a  map,  showing  the  lake  as 
represented  in  his  letters,  in  the  most  distinct  and  positive 
manner,  which  map  is  here  before  us. 

But  more  material  than  all  since  the  days  of  Nicollet, 
was  the  actual  survey  and  platting  of  these  townships 
embracing  that  entire  region,  including  Itasca  and  all  lakes 
and  streams  connected  therewith,  by  authority  of  the 
government  of  the  U.  S.,  through  the  Surveyor  General's 
office  of  the  State  of  Minnesota,  six  years  before  Capt,. 
Glazier's  alleged  discovery.  The  Surveyor  General,  J.  H. 
Baker,  was  fully  informed  of  the  facts  touching  the  land 
and  water  to  be  surveyed.  The  lumbermen  of  Minneapolis 
had  assured  him  that  they  had  actually  "  counted  the  pine 
trees  "  on  this  very  lake.  They  told  him  of  waters  beyond 
that  (Nicollet  creek),  flowing  into  the  S.  W.  arm  of  Itasca, 
through  which  they  could  float  their  logs  into  this  great 
lake.  The  contract  of  surveying  Township  143  North, 
Range  36  West,  where  these  waters  are  located,  was  let  to 
Capt.  E.  S.  Hall  of  St.  Cloud,  and  in  Oct.  1875,  Hall  made 
the  survey.  The  map  of  the  Township  was  duly  made  up 
in  the  Surveyor  General's  Office  from  Capt.  Hall's  care- 
fully written  field  notes,  made  upon  the  ground  with  proper 
instruments,  and  attention  was  especially  directed  to  the 
lake  in  question.  This  Township  map  was  certified  to  as 
correct  by  J.  H.  Baker,  Surveyor  General,  Feb.  3d,  1876, 
and  was  by  him  transmitted  to  the  General  Land  Office  at 
Washington,  and  was  officially  approved  by  the  Commis- 
sioner of  the  General  Land  Office  and  posted  May  3d,  1876. 


THE  SOURCES  OP  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  11 

This  map  thenceforth  became  public  property,  accessible 
to  all  persons,  and  the  supreme  authority  to  all  geographers 
and  map-makers  in  the  U.  S.  The  lake  in  question  was 
meandered,  its  outlines  marked  and  four  large  meander 
posts  set  up,  two  on  the  East  and  two  on  the  North,  and 
distinctly  visible  when  Capt.  Glazier  was  there,  for  they 
were  there  and  visible  to  travelers  this  present  year.  By 
authority  of  instructions  from  the  Government  of  the  U.  S., 
Surveyor  General  Baker  named  the  lake  in  question  "  Elk 
Lake,"  because  he  had  been  directed  to  retain  the  name 
given  by  the  Indians  to  meander  lakes,  if  any  such 
name  was  in  use  or  known  at  the  -time  of  the  survey. 
Capt.  Hall  informed  the  Surveyor  General  that  the  Indian 
name  was  Elk  Lake.  This  corresponded  with  the  traditional 
name  of  the  waters.  It  was  therefore  so  marked  on  the 
plat,  and  approved  by  the  authorities  at  Washington. 
What  person  had  the  right  to  change  the  name  thus 
authoritatively  given?  This  official  survey  and  record, 
that  year,  became  a  part  of  the  great  official  map  of  the 
United  States,  issued  under  the  certificate  of  the  Land 
Commissioner  at  Washington,  and  the  lake  and  name, 
"  Elk  Lake,"  could  have  been  found  there  by  any  person 
upon  the  most  casual  examination. 

Now  all  these  maps  which  are  here  cited,  are  among  the 
papers  of  this  Society,  and  with  the  exception  of  the 
Chambers'  map,  are  distinctly  official  maps,  not  issued  by 
private  individuals,  but  b}-  the  authority  of  the  State  or 
General  Government.  They  are  open  and  accessible  to  all 
persons  whomsoever.  Was  Capt.  Glazier  so  excessively 
stupid,  as  not  to  consult  all  such  existing  official  authorities, 
before  starting  on  so  important  an  undertaking?  If  so, 
what  value  can  attach  to  the  work  of  a  man  neglecting  to 
properly  equip  himself  for  exploration?  But  it  is  in 
positive  evidence,  that  previous  to  his  issuing  any  map 
whatever,  he  was  fully  informed  "  that  he  was  claiming 
what  did  not  belong  to  him,"  and  the  government  maps 


12  MINKE80TA  HISTORICAL  OOLLBCTIONB. 

were  shown  him  with  "Elk  Lake"  thereon.*  But  he 
defiantly  persisted  in  his  assumption. 

But  there  were  still  other  sources  of  information,  besides 
these,  ready  at  hand,  to  throw  light  upon  the  subject,  if 
they  had  been  sought,  or  wanted.  Charles  Lanman  alleges 
he  was  there  in  1846;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ayer  and  his  son, 
Lyman  Ayer,  of  Little  Falls,  Minnesota,  was  there  in  1849 ! 
Wm.  Bangs,  of  White  Earth,  Minn.,  was  there  in  1865; 
O.  E.  Garrison,  for  Census  Bureau,  [880;  W.  E.  Neal,  of 
Minneapolis,  was  there  both  in  1880  and  in  1881  ;  the  Rev. 
J.  A.  Gilfillan,  of  White  Earth,  Minn.,  was  there  in  May, 
1 88 1.  The  facts  pertaining  to  most  of  the  foregoing  visits, 
could  have  been  easily  found  in  the  Minnesota  Historical 
Society,  a  proper  place  for  any  man  to  go,  who  desired 
intelligently  to  embark  in  such  work. 

More  than  this,  in  so  important  a  State  document  as  the 
"Ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Geological  and  Natural  His- 
tory Survey  of  Minnesota,"  1880,  p.  321,  C.  M.  Terry,  in  •a. 
paper  therein  on  the  "  Hydrology  of  Minnesota,"  describes 
"Elk  Lake"  as  a  tributary  of  Itasca,  and  with  judicious 
and  intelligent  criticism  adds  : 

"  It  is  rather  a  refinement  of  exactness  to  call  Elk  Lake,  a.i  some 
explorers  have,  the  ultimate  source  of  the  Mississippi.  Itasca  Lake  has 
been  in  possession  of  the  honor  so  long  that  its  claim  ought  not  to  be 
disputed,  and  certainly  it  is  sufficiently  minute,  remote,  and  sylvan  to 
answer  all  the  requirements  of  an  ideal  source." 

This  Mr.  Terry,  who  was  employed  by  State  authority, 
was  a  Congregational  clergyman  and  had  made  natural 
science  a  special  study,  and  was  a  son-in-law  and  pupil  of 
Dr.  Edward  Hitchcock,  of  Amherst  College,  the  eminent 
geologist.  No  man  in  the  Northwest  was  better  equipped 
for  a  close  study,  and  intelligent  understanding,  of  the 
water  systems  of  Minnesota,     In  that  Report,   issued  by 

*  G.  Woolworth  Colton,  in  AmeTiain  Canoeist,  Nov.  1886:  Mr.  Colton  made 
Glazier's  map  according  to  his  dictation  and  gives  remarkable  testimony  as  to 
the  shamelessness  of  Glazier's  insistance  on  perverting  the  facts. 


THE  SOURCES   OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI.  18 

the  State,  Mr.  Glazier  could  have  read  the  full  account  of 
the  lake  he  pretends  to  have  discovered. 

But  this  is  not  all,  for  the  scientific  world  in  Europe 
were  also  familiar  with  the  results  of  Nicollet's  explorations, 
and  with  the  situation  at  Lake  Itasca  and  vicinity.  Dr. 
Peterman's  "  Stieler's  Hand  Atlas,"  published  by  Justus 
Perthes,  of  the  Gotha  Institute  of  Geography,  contains  dis- 
tinctly this  very  lake.  So  that  even  in  European  geog- 
raphies, the  redoubtable  Glazier  could  have  found  the  lake 
he  so  brazenly  claims. 

Does  not  this  record  of  facts  show,  that  if  Glazier  had 
been  in  any  respect  whatever  a  student  and  a  scientist, 
turn  which  ever  way  he  might,  he  would  have  found  the 
"  lake  "  which  has  whetted  his  appetite  for  glory,  or  had 
he  avoided  the  paths  of  the  scholar  and  entered  any  "  Real 
Estate  Office"  in  St.  Paul  or  Minneapolis,  he  would  have 
found  his  lake  distinctly  marked  and  named  "  Elk  Lake  " 
on  "  Warner  &  Foote's  Map,"  which  is  in  such  common  use 
everywhere  in  the  State. 

In  the  face  of  these  facts,  the  bold  assumption  of  the 
man  Glazier,  is  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  geo- 
graphical history.  His  conduct  is  a  total  disregard  of  all 
the  rules  and  dignities  of  a  true  scientist.  Scientific  knowl- 
edge has  scarcely  before  been  made  the  prey  of  a  charla- 
tan. The  measure  of  his  astounding  fraud,  has  not  yet  fully 
penetrated  the  public  mind.  To  begin  his  absurd  under- 
taking, he  must  thrust  aside  the  work  of  the  noble  School- 
craft ;  the  more  careful  and  exhaustive  explorations  of  the 
great  scientist,  Nicollet ;  to  ignore  the  confirmatory  exam- 
ination of  nearly  a  dozen  explorers  and  travelers  through  a 
series  of  years  ;  and  finally  to  set  aside  the  work  of  the 
government  surveyors,  with  the  official  map  staring  him 
full  in  the  face!  Glazier's  motto  must  be,  '' I'audace, 
toujours  laiidace!' 

But  in  what  manner  did  he  conduct  his  alleged  explora- 
tion ?     With  what  element  of  scientific   equipment  was  he 


14  MINNESOTA   HISTORICAL  OOLLBCTIONS. 

clothed  ?  Without  maps  and  documents  throwing  such 
light  as  ma)-  be  upon  the  region  to  be  explored  ;  without 
an}'  instruments  whatever,  *  always  so  necessary  for  the 
solution  of  a  topographical  problem,  this  geodetic  cham- 
pion advances  to  a  review  of  the  work  of  the  great  Nicol- 
let! His  own  account  is  the  authority  for  the  facts  of  this 
most  extraordinary  exploration  and  discovery.  He  sights 
lake  Itasca  between  three  and  four  o'clock  on  July  2ist, 
i88i,  and  passed  directly  to  Schoolcraft's  Island,  where  he 
at  once  went  into  camp,  and  retiring  early,  he  did  not 
begin  the  exhaustive  work  of  exploration  until  8  a.  m.,  of 
the  22d ;  then  putting  his  canoes  into  the  water,  and  fol- 
lowing the  guidance  of  an  Indian,  he  goes  directly  to  the 
waters  to  be  discovered.  He  enters  the  lake,  hoists  a  flag, 
fires  a  volley,  they  make  speeches,  as  he  alleges,  and 
announces  that  he  has  completed  the  work  begun  by  De 
Soto  in  1541  !  They  immediately  left  the  lake,  and  paddled 
back  into  Itasca,  and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  began  the  descent  of  the  river.t  Thus  in  seven 
hours  of  the  22d  of  July,  1881,  did  Capt.  Willard  Glazier, 
by  his  account,  accomplish  more  in  the  discovery  of  the 
sources  of  the  Mississippi,  than  had  been  done  from  the 
time  of  De  Soto,  three  hundred  and  forty  years,  till  that 
memorable  hour!  Shades  of  Columbus,  of  Magellan,  of 
De  Soto,  of  Henry  Hudson,  of  Nicollet !  To  what  a 
refinement  of  labor  and  economy  of  time,  has  Willard 
Glazier  reduced  the  work  of  notable  geographical  explora- 
tions and  discovery!  Think  of  the  painstaking  Nicollet, 
devoting  days  to  toilsome  labor,  and  nights  to  astronomi- 
cal observations !  Think  of  the  months  of  privation  and 
danger  endured  by  Schoolcraft  and  Nicollet,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  true  science ;  modest,  loyal  to  their  noble  work, 
blazing  an    unknown    path  to  the  fountains   of  the  Mis- 


*  Those  who  accompanied  him  have  so  stated. 

t  See  Glazier's  paper  in  '•American  Met.  Journal,"  pages  262,  322,  324,  325, 
337;    "Sword  and  Pen,"  pages  -477,  478. 


THB  SOtJRCES  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  15 

sissippi,  and  waiting  years  of  reflection  and  review,  before 
giving  a  report  to  the  world  !  But  fifty  years  later  comes 
a  stripling  tourist,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  civilized  State, 
with  a  million  of  people,  enters  a  surveyed  township, 
blazed  at'every  quarter  section  witii  the  axe  of  the  surveyor, 
and  in  an  exploit  of  seven  hours  duration,  endeavors  to 
steal  the  well  earned  chaplets  from  bronzed  brows  of 
Schoolcraft  and  Nicollet,  and  strives  to  set  them  upon  the 
head  of  a  conscienceless  "  adventurer"  instead  ! 

There  were  full  twenty  miles  of  shore  to  be  examined 
along  the  indentations  and  arms  of  Itasca,  with  its  "  Elk 
Lake  "  annex  ;  there  were  at  least  fifteen  miles  of  streams, 
with  their  sinuosities  to  be  explored. 

This  point  is  of  special  importance,  as  it  is  made  inferen- 
tially  to  appear  in  his  writings,  that  he  had  explored  some, 
at  least,  of  these  affluents.  But  VVillard  Glazier,  being  present 
in  our  Historical  Society  Rooms,  Feb.jth,  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  confessed  to  Gen.  Baker,  in  the  presence 
of  witnesses.*  that  he  had  not  ascended  any  one  of  them,  a 
fact  which  was  known  to  this  committee  by  other  testimony. 
Glazier,  thus  by  his  own  confession,  contributed  nothing 
whatever  to  geographical  knowledge.  He  addressed  himself 
to  no  work  of  a  scientist.  He  did  not  find,  or  attempt  to  find 
Nicollet's  creek,  which  is  the  main  tributary  of  Itasca  ;  he 
did  not  even  visit  the  chief  tributary  of  Elk  Lake  itself. 
His  maps  of  the  lake  are  in  themselves  misleading,  as  he 
caused  it  to  be  made  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  real  area, 
and  extravagant  in  its  comparative  relation  to  Itasca.  He 
makes  one  map  in  1884,  and  another,  locating  the  lake  four 
miles  further  South,  by  his  own  scale  of  miles,  in  1886. 
The  latter  is  to  be  considered  a  revision,  and  places  the 
lake  where  it  does  }wt  belong.  In  neither  map  is  it  cor- 
rect. His  maps  are  therefore,  in  themselves,  outrageousl}- 
erroneous,  and  cannot  be  tru.sted  for  truth  and  fidelity. 


*  Present,  J.  B.  Chaney  and  Geo.  Hamilton. 


16  MINNESOTA   HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS. 

Further  than  this,  he  distorts  geography  in  the  most 
reckless  manner  in  his  letter  to  the  "  Royal  Geographical 
Society  of  England."  In  that  communication,  he  locates 
his  lake  "  not  less  than  an  entire  degree  of  latitude  South 
of  Turtle  Lake."  This  places  it  South  of  Crow  Wing  river 
and  five  miles  North  of  the  town  of  Wadena !  People  of 
Minnesota,  how  this  man  perverts  the  geography  of  your 
State!  It  is  here  to  be  observed  that  in  this  extraordinary 
letter  to  the  Royal  Society,  the  entire  concluding  paragraph 
is  stolen  bodily  from  Schoolcraft  (Ed.  1834,  page,  59), 
changing  only  the  words  of  Schoolcraft  "  probably,"  into 
"  not  less  than, "  thus  adding  blunder  to  theft.  Pursue  this 
adventurer  in  any  of  his  statements  concerning  this  whole 
thing,  and  how  marvellous  are  his  palpable  errors.  In  one 
place  he  fixes  the  level  of  the  water  of  his  lake  3  feet 
above  those  of  Itasca ;  in  another  at  7  feet.  The  facts  are, 
from  actual  levels  taken  with  instruments,  the  level  of  Elk 
Lake  above  Itascan  waters,  is  just  13  inches. 

Again,  Glazier  claims  that  the  water  from  a  lakelet,  he 
calls  lake  "  Alice,"  (really  lake  Whipple,  as  Mr.  Gilfillan 
has  named  it),  empties  into  Elk  Lake,  when,  as  a  topo- 
grapically  determined  fact,  they  debouch  into  the  West  arm 
of  Itasca.  Any  searcher  after  geographical  truth,  in 
following  this  rattle- brained  adventurer,  would  be  led  into 
hopeless  mazes  of  error  and  confusion. 

His  work  in  distorting  the  geography  of  our  State,  is 
simply  incredible.  He  has  issued  and  scattered  broad- 
cast a  map,  entitled :  "  A  map  illustrative  of  Capt.  Willard 
Glazier's  voyage  of  exploration  to  the  source  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river."  Coming  into  Minnesota,  a  strolling  tour- 
ist, he  has,  in  this  map,  made  a  bold  and  outrageous 
attempt  to  change  the  names  of  our  lakes  in  an  area  of 
country  320  square  miles  in  extent,  beginning  just  West  of 
Leech  Lake,  thence  across  to  the  Itasca  basin,  then  follow- 
ing the  meanderings  of  the  Mississippi  river  to  Lake 
Winnebegoshish.     In  this  territory  he  displaced  the  ancient 


THK   SOURCES   OB"   THK   MISSISSIPPI.  17 

Indian  names,  sacred  to  the  people  of  Minnesota,  and  old  in 
nomenclature  as  Leech  Lake,  Turtle  Lake,  Winnebegoshish 
or  Cass  Lake,  coming  down  from  immemorial  times,  and 
in  their  place  substituted  the  following,  changing  as  here 
noted  : 

Kabekona  River  to  Kabekanka. 

Kabekona  Lake  to  Lake  Garfield. 

Neway  Lake   to  Lake  George. 

Bowdich  Lake  to  Lake  Paine. 

Assawe  Lake  to  Lake  Hattie. 

Plantagenet  Lake  to  Lake  Hennepin. 

La  Place  River  to  Lake  De  Soto. 
He  assumes  to  name  a  long  chain  of  lakes  and  ponds 
lying  between  Leech    Lake  and  La  Place  river,  after  his 
army  associates  ;  those  from  La  Place  river   to  Itasca,  he 
devotes  to  his  relatives. 

Do  the  people  of  this  State  desire  to  have  their  ancient 
and  honored  nomenclature  overthrown  by  such  authority, 
and  graft  the  Glazier  family  tree  in  lieu  thereof?  Does 
this  Historical  Society  wish  to  admit  this  quack  explorer's 
name  on  the  map  of  this  State,  honored  by  such  historic  and 
treasured  names  as  Cass,  Le  Sueur,  Morrison,  Olmstead, 
Sibley,  McLeod,  Kittson,  Faribault,  Ramsey,  Rice,  Marshall, 
Aitkin,  Steele,  Becker,  Freeborn,  Stevens,  and  other  house- 
hold names,  identified  with  early  days  and  noble  deeds  ? 
It  is  in  evidence  that  his  lake  is  named  after  himself  by 
collusion ;  the  lakelet  in  Sec.  27  after  his  daughter ;  a  lake 
near  La  Place  river,  after  his  brother,  George ;  another 
Hattie,  after  another  of  his  family,  and  so  on.  This  shows 
that  he  is  consumed  by  egregious  vanity,  and  an  inordi- 
nate desire  for  notoriety. 

As  we  pursue  his  devious  record,  step  by  step,  we  find 
that  not  in  one  thing  touching  our  geography,  has  he  told 
the  truth.  He  has  perverted  the  facts  of  our  early  history  ; 
told  stories  of  imaginary  adventures  along  our  noble 
streams ;    deluged   the  country  with  false   and  erroneous 


18  MINNESOTA  HISTORICAL  OOLLKCTION8. 

maps  of  the  Northern  portion  of  our  State,  and  sought  to 
rob  us  of  ancient  names. 

Nicollet's  work  was  done  years  before  a  white  man  had 
permanently  settled  within  the  boundaries  of  our  State. 
Glazier's  was  a  jovial  picnic  within  the  limits  of  civili- 
zation. The  settler  had  already  taken  up  homesteads 
within  sight  of  Elk  Lake,  years  before  Glazier  was  there. 
Your  committee  have  before  them  an  official  letter  from  the 
Register  of  the  Land  Office  at  Crookston,  showing  the 
date  of  the  first  settlement,  by  homestead,  to  have  been 
Aug.  22d,  1878,  by  Austin  Sigimore,  on  Sec.  22,  three 
years  before  the  alleged  advent  of  this  tourist. 

His    record    of  this  imaginary  exploration   abounds   in 

atrocious  falsehoods.     He  dignified  his  geographic  romance 

with  beautiful  speeches  by  his   Indian  guide,  Ge-no-wa-ge- 

sic.     Your   committee  are  in  receipt  of  a  letter   from  the 

Rev.  J.  A.  Gilfillan,   which    explodes  even  this  element  of 

wild  romance  into  atoms.     Read  the  following : 

White  E.\rth,  Minn.,  Jaiuiai  v  7th,  1887. 

Dear  Sir  : — In  accordance  with  jour  suggestion,  I  went  a  few  days 
ago  and  saw  Che-no-wa-ge-sic,  with  whom  I  have  long  been  well 
acquainted.  I  took  with  me  Glazier's  book  "  Sword  and  Pen,"  and  read 
him  from  it  his  speech  as  reported  on  page  453,  beginning  "  My  Brother, 
etc.,"  and  asked  him  how  it  was  about  that.'  He  said  he  never  made  the 
speech  reported,  "  Never  made  any  speech  at  all  at  Leech  Lake,  nothing 
whatever^  I  then  read  him,  on  page  474,  about  his  stepping  to  the 
front,  assuming  an  oratorical  attitude  etc.,  and  his  speech  following, 
beginning  "  My  brother,  I  have  come  with  you  through  many  lakes  and 
rivers  to  the  head  of  the  Father  of  Waters,"  and  asked  him  how  about  that.' 
He  said  he  never  stood  up  and  extended  his  arms;  never  said  that  no 
white  man  had  yet  seen  the  source  of  the  great  river,  or  that  that  Lake 
was  it.  The  only  thing  there  was  to  that,  was  that  they,  when  the 
canoes  arrived  there,  told  Glazier  that  that  was  where  he  had  planted 
corn,  and  that  he  had  hunted  all  round  those  shores  for  many  years.  As 
to  that  speech  on  page  474,  he  only  told  him  the  above  about  planting 
corn  and  hunting;  never  told  him  that  he  had  now  got  to  the  true  head, 
for  he  (Che-no-wa-ge-sic),  well  knew  that  Lake  Breck,  the  Elk  Lake  of 
the  maps,  was  not  the  true  head,  but  only  the  "place  where  the  waters 
were  gathered ; "  that  he  knew  that  the  true  head  was  a  little  stream  a  mile 
or  two  to  the  West,  running  into  the  West  arm  of  Lake  Itasca,  putting 


THE  SOURCES   OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI.  19 

his  finger  on  the  map  and  running  it  along  the  stream  up  to  the  little 
lake,  Cake  Whipple,  at  N.  W.  corner  of  Section  34,  according  to  the 
Government  Survey.  "That  Glazier  never  asked  him  to  take  him  to 
the  true  head,  and  he  vi'ell  knew  that  he  did  not  take  him  there.  That 
Glazier  only  asked  him  if  he  could  take  him  to  that  lake  which  the 
Indians  call  Pokegama,  and  that  he  replied  that  he  could ;  but  that  he 
knew  that  that  was  not  the  true  source;  it  was  only  a  place  where  the 
waters  were  gathered." 

The  above  I  have  copied  from  my  minutes  of  the  interview  with 
Che-no-wa-ge-sic,  made  immediately  after.  He  is  evidently  an  honest 
fellow  and  tells  a  true  story.  He  did  not  know  why  I  asked  him;  I  did 
not  let  him  know  whether  I  was  in  Glazier's  interest  or  otherwise,  and 
he  has  heard  nothing,  I  believe,  of  there  being  any  dispute  about  the 
matter,  and  had  no  interest  but  to  tell  the  truth. 

To  the  people  of  Minnesota  who  know  Mr.  Gilfillan, 
this  will  be  conclusive.  Glazier's  other  statements  have  been 
repudiated  by  Channing  Paine,  the  only  white  person, 
except  his  brother  George,  who  accompanied  him,  and 
now  his  noble  Indian,  his  former  Che-no-wa-ge-sic,  he  too 
has  abandoned  this  falsifier  of  history,  and  left  him  alone 
in  his  fabric  of  lies. 

If  it  be  urged  by  his  friends,  that,  notwithstanding  all 
that  has  been  said,  he  was  yet,  as  he  claims,  the  first  to 
demonstrate  that  there  were  other  waters  beyond  Itasca, 
and  that  he  showed  those  waters  to  be  the  lake  indicated, 
there  are  plenty  of  answers  to  that.  Chambers  had  so 
averred,  in  1872,  and  called  the  lake  "Dolly  Varden  "  ; 
A.  H.  Siegfried,  in  Lippincott's  Magazine,  Aug.  1880,  who 
developed  that  whole  theory  of  sources ;  and  that  Glazier 
knew  of  it,  is  shown  by  his  plagiarizing  boldly,  as  usual, 
from  the  magazine  articles  in  question. 

If  he  still  pushes  the  claim  beyond,  into  his  "  Lake 
Alice,"  by  debouching  its  waters  into  Elk  Lake,  as  he  has 
done,  and  there  rests  his  claim,  still  the  government  surveys 
and  careful  subsequent  scientific  research,  show  that  that 
lakelet  empties,  far  away,  into  Itasca  itself  There  is  no 
longer  a  place,  nor  an  evasion,  where  he  can  hide  from  the 
disgrace  of  his  false  and  fraudulent  pretensions. 

But  the  flagrant  fraud,  boldly  attempted  to  be  put  upon 


20  MINNESOTA  HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS. 

the  world  by  this  pretended  discovery,  is  only  one  of 
Capt.  Glazier's  sins  against  the  literary  and  scientific  world. 
There  is  another,  equally  glaring,  ignoble  and  contempti- 
ble in  a  scientist,  which  is  kin  to  his  rape  of  the  lake.  It 
serves  further  to  illustrate  the  character  of  the  man : 

In  1884,  Capt.  Glazier  contributed  to  the  "American 
Meteorological  Journal,"  what  purports  to  be  an  elaborate 
account  of  his  "  Recent  Discovery  of  the  True  Sources  of 
the  Mississippi."  In  that  account,  he  commits  the  boldest 
and  most  flagrant  literary  piracy  to  be  found  in  the 
curiosities  of  all  literature.  Challenging  and  denying 
Schoolcraft's  title  to  the  discovery  of  the  sources  of  the  great 
river,  he  yet  evidently  had  in  his  possession  a  copy  of 
Schoolcraft's  "  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  to  Lake  Itasca 
in  1832,"  the  same  as  published  by  Harper  &  Brothers,  1834, 
and  if  Glazier  did  not  believe  in  the  genuineness  of 
Schoolcraft's  discovery,  it  is  patent  that  he  had  implicit 
faith  in  the  fidelity  of  the  careful  Schoolcraft's  descriptions 
of  the  Indians  and  of  the  localities.  His  plagiarisms  are 
so  bold,  that  Glazier  has  never  presumed  to  deny  the 
charge.  "  Stolen  from  Schoolcraft "  should  stand  at  the 
head  of  every  printed  column.  These  extraordinary 
coincidences  of  whole  pages  of  identical  language,  were 
brought  to  light  by  the  laborious  researches  of  Henry  D. 
Harrower,  an  accomplished  scholar  and  geographer,  and 
published  by  Ivison,  Blakeman,  Taylor  &  Co.,  of  New 
York,  1886.  Mr.  Harrower  has  so  completely  pilloried  the 
unfortunate  Glazier,  that  he  must  be  solid  brass  if  he  can 
again  lift  his  head  among  literary  people.  It  must  destroy 
confidence  in  all  his  literary  performances.  We  have  care- 
fully gone  over  Mr.  Harrower's  exhibits  of  parallel  columns, 
comparing  both  with  their  originals,  and  are  dazed  at 
Glazier's  audacity.  The  lapse  of  fifty  years  since  School- 
craft wrote,  had  no  effect  upon  Glazier's  judgment  in 
appropriating  the  work  of  the  former.  The  material 
incidents  of  time,  place  and  customs,  as  changed  during 


THE   SOURCES  OF   THE    MISSISSIPPI.  21 

the  time  among  the  Pillager  band  of  Indians,  are  out- 
rageously defied  by  Glazier.  He  sticks  to  Schoolcraft  in 
spite  of  the  results  of  a  half  century  of  schools,  farming", 
and  the  civilizing  effects  of  the  government's  care  of  these 
Indians.  Their  present  condition  is  well  known  to  these 
citizens  of  Minnesota,  and  Glazier's  stolen  account  of  them 
fifty  years  ago,  as  applicable  to-day,  is  stupid  beyond  belief. 
Schoolcraft's  fine  description  of  a  noted  chief  of  1832,  is 
taken  bodily  by  this  literary  thief,  and  applied  to  White 
Cloud  in  1 88 1.  All  this  is  like  putting  the  girl  of  to-day 
in  the  clothes  of  her  great-grandmother,  and  declaring  it 
is  the  fashion  of  the  hour. 

Even  in  his  purported  trip  of  discovery,  he  follows,  with 
unreserved  confidence,  Schoolcraft's  description  of  port- 
ages, trails,  marshes,  swamps,  elevations,  waters,  &c. 
Identical  also,  is  his  copy  of  the  meteorology,  zoology 
and  botany  of  the  country.  The  track  and  the  foot-prints 
of  Schoolcraft  are  never  missed  by  a  hair's-breadth,  by 
this  faithful  plagiarist  of  the  great  scientist.  Schoolcraft's 
fidelity  to  nature  was  never  so  complimented.  If  Glazier 
was  there  at  all,  he  saw  only  with  Schoolcraft's  eyes. 
The  same  Indians,  the  same  customs,  same  dances,  same 
sacrifices,  same  houses,  same  meals,  same  salt-cellar,  same 
grass,  same  pond-lillies,  same  rushes,  same  canoes,  same 
flocks  of  pigeons,  same  ripe  strawberries, — everything  alike! 
Indeed,  it  was  not  necessary  for  Glazier  to  have  visited 
Lake  Itasca,  if  he  ever  did,  for  he  could  have  copied  the 
noble  pages  of  Schoolcraft  as  well  in  his  study,  without 
the  inconvenie.nce  of  mosquitoes,  or  the  expense  of  his 
journey. 

To  crown  his  bold  plagiarisms  with  the  mede  of  per- 
fection. Glazier  gives  a  table  in  "Am.  Met.  Journal,"  1884, 
p.  328,  "  Meteorological  Observations  at  the  Head  Waters 
of  the  Mississippi."  It  is  true  we  have  the  evidence  that 
he  had  no  instruments  with  him,  and  took  no  obse-rvations 
whatever.     But  it  is  only  a  step  from  plagiarism,  to  lying. 


22  MINNESOTA    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS. 

In  another  volume  of  Schoolcraft,  "  Narrative  of  an  Expe- 
dition to  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi  in  1820,"  published 
in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1821,  are  two  meteorological  tables, 
taken  at  Big  Sandy  Lake,  pages  268  and  314.  Glazier 
reproduces  these  ide?itical  tables  as  his  ow?i,  as  if  taken 
"at  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi." 

We  have  the  two  tables  before  us,  (Mr.  Harrower's  keen 
work,)  and  every  date,  and  every  barometrical  observation, 
every  hour  of  the  notations,  the  character  of  each  day  and 
the  direction  of  the  wind,  the  very  thunder,  the  rain-fall, 
all  are  identically  the  same,  for  every  figure  has  been  com- 
pared. They  tally  to  a  dot.  But,  just  sixty-one  years 
before,  Aug.  2d,  1820,  Schoolcraft  broke  his  instrument 
and  his  observations  ceased,  at  two  p.  m.  of  that  day. 
Loyal  and  faithful  ever,  to  the  great  man  whose  work  he  so 
religiously  copied.  Glazier  ceases  his  barometrical  record 
at  just  two  p.  M.,  Aug,  2d,  188 1  !  ! 

Did  Glazier  think  he  was  plundering  neglected  and  for- 
gotten books?  No  American  scholar  will  forget  School- 
craft, no  more  than  he  will  neglect  Audubon,  or  bury 
Agassiz,  and  more  and  more  as  the  Indian  perishes,  will 
Schoolcraft  be  recognized  as  authority  and  a  classic. 
Glazier  does  not  seek  to  conceal,  or  veil  his  thefts.  A 
thief  will  seek  to  disguise  his  stolen  horse  by  cutting  off 
his  tail,  or  clipping  his  hair ;  but  Glazier  struts  in  all  his 
borrowed  plumage,  oblivious  to  every  chance  of  discovery 
and  dead  to  every  sense  of  shame.  Though  his  rank 
plagiarisms  have  long  been  made  public,  he  neither  modifies 
his  story  nor  abates  his  pretensions.  It  Seems  useless 
further  to  unmask  and  displume  so  stolid  a  man.  But 
what  the  public  are  entitled  to,  is  the  truth  of  history  and 
an  honest  geography. 


THE  SOURCES   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.  23 

A  Critical  Review. 

A  critical  review  of  the  whole  situation  was  made  by 
Hopewell  Clarke,  a  citizen  of  Minnesota,  well  known  for  his 
eminent  fitness,  experience  and  capacity  for  the  work,  who 
was  engaged  by  Ivison,  Blakeman,  Taylor  &  Co.,  book 
publishers  of  the  City  of  New  York,  to  visit  the  sources  of 
the  Mississippi  river  for  an  accurate  topographical  survey 
of  that  region,  with  a  purpose  to  carefully  review  the  work 
of  former  explorers,  and  to  determine  any  matters  yet 
doubtful.  Mr.  Clark,  after  a  full  study  of  the  case,  with 
competent  assistants,  properly  equipped  with  maps  and 
instruments,  did  the  work  thoroughly  in  1886.  The  results 
of  his  patient  and  exhaustive  labors,  which  are  before  us, 
confirm  the  accuracy  of  the  government  surveys.  It  cer- 
tifies to  the  general  correctness  of  Nicollet's  report  and 
maps.  Unlike  Glazier's,  this  expedition  explored  every 
bay  and  indentation  of  the  Itascan  waters,  and  followed 
every  affluent  to  its  ultimate  source.  They  trod  in  the 
honored  footsteps  of  the  indefatigable  Nicollet.  Every 
level  was  taken  with  instruments,  and  every  distance 
measured  with  a  chain.  They  confirm  a  visit  of  Nicollet 
to  Elk  Lake,  by  his  minute  notations  of  its  feeders,  which 
could  only  be  observed  by  actual  exploration.  They  fix  the 
location  of  Elk  Lake  precisely  where  the  government  sur- 
veyors located  it ;  and  they  demonstrate  that  Glazier  both 
distorted  its  size,  and  placed  it  too  far  from  the  Itascan 
waters.  He  concurs  fully  with  Nicollet,  and  other  reliable 
explorers,  that  the  longest,  and  by  far  the  most  important 
of  the  affluents  of  the  Itascan  basin,  is  the  river,  a  creek 
which  debouches  into  the  Southwest  arm  of  the  lake,  being 
sixteen  feet  wide,  two  and  one  half  deep  at  its  mouth,  and 
the  one  most  elevated  in  source  being  ninety-two  feet 
above  Itasca,  while  Elk  Lake  is  but  thirteen  inches  higher. 
This  expedition  confirms  the  statement  by  water-marks 
found,  that  Itasca  waters  were  once  higher,  and  Elk  Lake 
once  lower,  than  they  now  are,  and  that  the. latter,  as  here- 


24  MINNESOTA    HISTORICAL  COLLECTIONS. 

tofore  stated,  was  doubtless  but  an  estuary  of  Itasca  at  the 
time  of  Schoolcraft's  and  Nicollet's  explorations.  He 
fully  confirms  the  general  idea  of  Nicollet  that  "  Lake 
Itasca  is  the  first  important  reservoir  and  basin  of  all  the 
springs  that  feed  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi   river." 

They  find  the  posts  and  blazings  of  the  government 
surveyors  still  visible.  Men  of  our  own  State,  worthy 
to  be  trusted,  they  did  their  work  without  prejudice  or 
bias,  intent  only  on  finding  out  the  truth  as  to  the  primal 
waters  of  our  great  river.  They  confirm  the  fidelity  of 
Schoolcraft  and  Nicollet  to  every  essential  fact,  and  renew, 
to  those  daring  explorers,  the  honors  they  so  nobly  won. 

But  why  pursue  this  investigation  further?  Let  this 
perverter  of  history  and  distorter  of  geography  be  dis- 
missed as  a  charlatan  adventurer,  with  the  contempt  he 
so  richly  merits. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

After  a  most  diligent  and  laborious  examination  of  all 
the  records,  maps  and  documents  bearing  upon  the  case, 
which  are  now  so  complete  and  exhaustive  as  to  be  no 
longer  liable  to  any  material  change,  your  committee,  beg 
leave  respectfully  to  submit  the  results  of  their  findings : 

I.  That  Henry  Rowe  Schoolcraft,  accompanied  by  Lt. 
James  Allen,  in  a  scientific  expedition  made  by  him,  July 
1832,  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi  river,  did 
discover,  locate,  delineate  and  map  the  general  basin, 
which  is  the  first  great  gathering  place  and  reservoir  of  the 
head  waters  of  that  continental  stream,  and  was  by  him 
named  Lake  Itasca,  from  the  Latin  words  Veritas  caput, 
the  true  head.  That  he  announced  the  discovery  in  a 
narrative  written  in  a  modest,  honorable  and  distinct  man- 
ner. That  his  companion,  Lt.  Allen,  the  topographer  of 
the  party,  drew  a  map,  which  map  was  deposited,  and  is 
now,  in  the  General  Land  Office  of  the  U.  S.,  in  the  City 
of  Washington,  which  map  exhibits  the  substantial  outlines 


THE   SOURCES   OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI.  25 

of  Lake  Itasca  and  its  general  surroundings.  That  School- 
craft's right  to  the  original  honor  of  this  discovery  can- 
not be  rightfully  questioned  or  challenged. 

2.  That  Jean  N.  Nicollet,  a  distinguished  French  scholar 
and  explorer,  did,  in  August  1836,  visit  and.  minutely  ex- 
plore the  same  region  in  and  about  the  Itascan  basin.  That 
his  work  exhibits  all  the  care  of  a  trained  scientist,  and 
that  his  map,  deposited  in  the  office  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A. 
1836-7,  is  so  complete  in  detail,  that  all  subsequent 
examinations  and  surveys  have  been  but  certificators  of 
its  general  accuracy.  That  his  report  is  clear,  compre- 
hensive and  scientific. 

That  Nicollet  did  discover  and  explore  to  its  sources,  a 
creek,  or  river,  whose  primal  springs  are  now  found  by 
government  surveys,  to  be  in  Sec.  34,  Town  143  N.,  R.  36 
W.,  5th  Principal  Meridian,  and  92  feet  above  the  level  of 
Lake  Itasca ;  which  creek,  or  river,  has  its  rise  at  the  foot 
hills  of  the  Hauteur  des  Terres,  which  curve,  like  a  crescent, 
around  its  sources,  and  this  is  the  longest,  as  it  is  by  far  the 
largest,  tributary  of  the  Itasca  basin.  To  use  Nicollet's 
own  language :  "  In  obedience  to  the  geographical  rule, 
that  the  sources  of  a  river  are  those  that  are  most  distant 
from  its  mouth,  this  creek  is  truly  the  infant  Mississippi ; 
all  others  below,  its  feeders  and  tributaries."  Then  he 
modestly  and  courteously  adds  : 

"  The  honor  of  having  first  explored  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  introduced  a  knowledge  of  them  into 
physical  geography,  belongs  to  Mr.  Schoolcraft  and  Lieu- 
tenant Allen.  I  come  only  after  these  gentlemen ;  but  I 
may  be  permitted  to  claim  some  merit  for  having  com- 
pleted what  was  wanting  for  a  full  geographical  account 
of  these  sources.  Moreover,  I  am,  I  believe,  the  first 
traveler,  who  has  carried  with  him  astronomical  instru- 
ments, and  put  them  to  profitable  account  along  the  whole 
course  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  mouth  to  its  sources." 

This  is  the  essence  of  the  whole  story.     To   these   two 


2fi  JtlNNESOTA    HISTORICAL   COLLECTIONS. 

eminent  scholars  and  scientists  belong  all  the  glory  of 
the  discovery  of  the  primal  sources  of  the  Mississippi 
river. 

Your  committee  recommend  that  this  chief  tributary 
of  Itasca,  should  be  named  "  Nicollet  River  "  in  honor  of 
its  great  discoverer,  and  that  the  lakelet  in  Section  27,  be 
named  Alpha,  as  significant  of  the  absolute  ultimate 
source. 

Recommended,  that  the  name  "  Glazier  Lake "  be 
expunged  from  the  lake  in  Sec.  22,  of  the  same  Town  and 
Range,  and  that  the  name  "  Elk  Lake  "  be  continued  as 
rightfully  and  appropriately  named  by  the  authority  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

That  we  earnestly  and  respectfully  recommend  all 
geographers,  map-makers  and  historians,  to  follow  the  con- 
clusions herein  reached,  as  final  to  a  matter  of  geography 
w'ithin  our  own  State. 

That  we  respectfully  recommend  that  the  present  Legis- 
lature, by  joint  resolution,  or  otherwise,  as  to  them  may 
seem  best,  take  such  action  as  will  fix  and  maintain  the 
nomenclature  of  the  waters  as  herein  indicated. 


At  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  of  Gen.  Baker's  Report, 
Ex-Gov.  Alex.  Ramsey  moved  that  the  report  be  adopted, 
and  published  by  the  Society,  which  motion  prevailed. 

The  following  Resolutions  were  then  read,  and  unani- 
mously adopted  : 

Whereas,  The  members  of  this  Society  have  listened  to  the  reading 
of  the  report  prepared  by  Gen.  James  Heaton  Baker  on  the  claitns  made 
by  Capt.  Willard  Glazier,  to  the  credit  of  having  in  iSSi  "  discovered 
the  source  of  tlie  Mississippi  river,"  to-wit:  A  lake  adjoining  Lake 
Itasca,  designated  on  the  United  States  surveys  as  Elk  Lake;  therefore 
be.  it 

Resolved^  That  we  hereby  express  as  the  deliberate  judgment  of 
this  Society  that  the  assertions  and  assumptions  of  said  Glazier,  in  the 
matter  named,  are  baseless  and  false — that  he  is  in  no  sense  whatever  a 
"discoverer"  or  "explorer,"  the  lake  which  he  is  now  endeavoring  to 
have  called  by  his  name  having  been  originally  visited  and  mapped  by 
Schoolcraft  in  1832 ;  again  caretully  explored  and  scientifically  examined 


THE  SOURCES  OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI.  27 

and  described  in  official  reports  and  maps  by  that  accurate  and  conscien- 
tious scientist,  Jean  Nicholas  Nicollet  in  1836,  and  was  in  1875  fully 
surveyed  and  mapped  by  the  United  States  surveyors,  and  soon  after 
claims  and  pre-emptions  w^ere  filed  on  lands  adjoining  said  lake. 

Resolved,  That  we  assert  our  unqualified  belief,  based  on  the  thorough 
and  careful  investigations  of  Nicollet,  O.  E.  Garrison  and  others,  and 
again,  more  recently,  of  those  made  bv  Hopewell  Clarke,  that  the  lake 
which  Capt.  Glazier  asserts  is  "  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi  river," 
is  not  such  in  reality,  but  that  the  real  source  of  the  river  is  Lake  Itasca 
and  its  tributaries,  arising  in  sections  27  and  28  of  the  township  in 
which  it  is  located. 

Resolved^  That  we  feel  amazed  at  the  presumption  and  assurance 
displayed  by  Capt.  Glazier;  first,  in  hastily  making  such  an  audacious 
claim,  based,  at  best  upon  an  uncertain  and  doubtful  foundation ;  and 
again,  in  arrogantly  heralding  himself  to  the  world  as  a  discoverer, 
without  first  submitting  his  claims  to  some  tribunal  competent  to  pro- 
nounce on  their  merits  and  having  his  alleged  discoverv  examined. 
And  further,  in  deceiving  geographical  and  scientific  societies  by  send- 
ing them  an  account  of  his  pretended  discoveries,  and  causing  to  be 
published  books  and  magazine  articles  in  which  he  is  praised  and  puffed 
in  unmeasured  terms  and  held  up  to  the  admiration  of  the  country  as 
one  who  had  achieved  some  praiseworthy  feat;  also,  in  publishing  maps 
in  which  the  lake  in  question  is  represented  as  four  times  its  real  size 
and  placed  in  a  wrong  position;  and  lastly,  in  persuading,  by  persistent 
solicitations,  map  and  school  book  publishers  to  place  his  name  to  "  Elk 
Lake  "  and  declare  it  "  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  river." 

Resolved,  That  the  wholesale  and  unblushing  plagiarisms  by  Capt. 
Glazier  from  the  descriptions  of  Itasca  in  the  writings  of  Schoolcraft, 
Siegfried  and  others,  and  of  the  meteorological  tables  in  the  former, 
tend  to  throw  discredit  on  all  his  assertions  and  to  render  him  unworthy 
of  the  respect  and  confidence  which  would  be  due  to  him,  were  he  really 
the  discoverer  which  he  claims  to  be. 

Resolved,  That  we  respectfully  ask  the  legislature  to  pass,  without 
delay,  the  bill  recently  introduced  into  the  house  by  Mr.  Donnelly,  to 
fix  irrevocably  on  the  map  of  the  State  the  names  of  the  lakes  and 
streams  composing  the  Itasca  sources  of  the  Mississippi  river,  so  that  its 
earliest  explorers  be  not  robbed  of  their  just  laurels,  and  to  remove 
temptations  to  adventurers  in  future  to  gain  notoriety  by  attaching  their 
names  to  said  lakes. 

Resolved,  That  we  call  upon  the  various  geographical,  historical  and 
other  learned  societies  throughout  the  world  to  join  with  us  in  repudi- 
ating Glazier's  claims,  and  ask  them,  in  the  spirit  of  truth  and  right, 
that  if  they  have  in  their  possession,  maps  with  the  lake  in  question  so 
named,  they  erase  Glazier's  name  from  them  and  substitute  therefor 
that  of  "Elk  Lake" 


F 


28  MINNESOTA   HISTORICAL  COLLBCTION6. 

Resolved,  That  our  thanks  are  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  lo  Gen. 
James  H.  Baker,  for  his  able  and  exhaustive  report;  and  also  to  H.  D. 
Harrower,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Gilfillan  of  White  Earth, 
Minn.,  and  to  Messrs.  Alfred  J.  Hill,  Hopewell  Clarke  and  J.  B.  Chaney 
of  St.  Paul,  for  valuable  aid  rendered  in  the  investigation  of  maps  and 
documents  relating  to  the  question. 


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